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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25368148">Ring of Truth</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_crispins/pseuds/st_crispins'>st_crispins</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>St. Crispin's Day Society shorts [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, humor friendship spy gadgets</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:28:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25368148</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_crispins/pseuds/st_crispins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Illya has been dabbling in the lab again.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>St. Crispin's Day Society shorts [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/345767</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ring of Truth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So? Are you going to lunch today?" Napoleon asked as he swept through the sliding doors leading to the lab. His voice echoed hollowly through the mostly empty room. It was well past the noon hour and on summer Fridays, Section VIII personnel tended to take longer — and occasionally, liquid — lunches. Only one workbench was still occupied. </p><p>Pausing, Napoleon held up his watch and tapped the face for dramatic effect. "You know how crowded Antonio’s can get. At this rate, there won’t be any corner tables left."</p><p>Looking up from his perch on a tall stool, Illya noted the time on the overhead clock. Almost twelve thirty. They were lucky if there were <i>any</i> tables left at all. "If you don’t mind, I think I’d prefer to remain and finish up here. I’ll forage in the commissary later."</p><p>Napoleon cocked an eyebrow. Illya seldom missed a meal if he could help it, and this promised to be a good meal at that. Antonio, who owned the place, was back from vacation in Sicily and he’d probably brought some new recipes with him.</p><p>His interest piqued, Napoleon sidled up to the bench and inspected the clutter of metal and wires and various measuring instruments before him. "What are you working on?" he asked because he couldn’t really tell just from the configuration of the mess. </p><p>"A portable lie detector." His concentration elsewhere, Illya didn’t bother to look up.</p><p>"Oh yeah?" Napoleon replied, intrigued. But before he could inquire what the device looked like or how it worked, Illya’s hand shot out and gripped his right wrist just beyond the edge of the French cuff. Napoleon’s agent’s reflexes snapped alert automatically, but the Russian had seized him before he could entirely withdraw his hand and, realizing it was part of a demonstration, he relaxed.</p><p>"Are you working this weekend?" Illya demanded in full interrogation mode.</p><p>"Ah — yeah."</p><p>Illya paused for a moment, and then said, "No, you’re not."</p><p>"Okay, no, I’m not. But you know that already. I’m going out with Wanda."</p><p>Illya paused again and then added thoughtfully, "No, you’re not."</p><p>"All right, I’m not. I was supposed to be taking Wanda out for dinner and dancing, but Angelique left a message with my service. She’s flying out to her place in the Bahamas for the weekend and wants me to tag along and you know how the Old Man likes me to keep tabs on her."</p><p>"This is not for business and Waverly didn’t order it."</p><p>"Well, he didn’t ask <i>specifically</i>"--- Napoleon wrenched away as his friend’s iron grip released "—-- but she does drop a lot of Thrush gossip when she’s drinking, and besides, I like being with her."</p><p>"Now you’re telling the truth, though I can’t imagine why. That harpy can’t be trusted."</p><p>"Of course she can’t," Napoleon agreed as he rubbed the circulation back into his wrist, "which is why you might want to loan me that pill or mind reading contraption or whatever else you just invented that will make me as clairvoyant as you seem to be."</p><p>Illya held up his own hand, fingers splayed upward, to display a heavy college class ring situated on his fourth finger. "The sensor in this ring calculates pulse, respiration rate, and galvanic skin response, averages them out, and produces a biofeedback readout in the form of changing color. Note the stone."</p><p>Napoleon squinted: the sapphire —-- if it was, indeed, a real sapphire —-- had turned from a placid blue to a deep, tell-tale violet. "Impressive," he allowed. Not as impressive as Merlin’s Electronic Thought Translator perhaps, but the magician and his device were long gone and the secret of how the thing worked was buried with him. "But one can’t run around grabbing strangers by the wrist all the time."</p><p>"It also works well with a handshake."</p><p>"Situations don’t always call for long handshakes."</p><p>"All you need to do for the sensor to register properly is make contact with bare skin. Finding a pulse point insures that the reading will be more accurate."</p><p>"Uh-huh," Napoleon said, considering, as he processed this last bit of information. "Bare skin and pulse points. Well, that shouldn’t be too difficult. May I field test this with Angelique?"</p><p>"Go right ahead." Illya took the ring off his own finger and passed it to his friend. "But keep in mind that sexual excitement may throw the readings off." He added with perfect understatement, "You know: all that <i>sweat</i>."</p><p>"Angelique doesn’t sweat. She just becomes... dewy."</p><p>Illya rolled his eyes and returned to his work.</p><p>Napoleon couldn’t help but grin as he slipped the ring on. The color had cooled once more, returning to a pale blue. "Y’know, you could sell this thing to a novelty company and make a fortune."</p><p>"Always thinking like a capitalist," Illya sighed, shaking his head. "The components of the sensor are enormously expensive. Manufacturing on a mass scale would be cost prohibitive." </p><p>"Hmmm... too bad. Maybe you can come up with a substitute, something that works just as well for less." Napoleon straightened his tie and settled his shirt cuffs properly. "Well, I’m off. If you happen to bump into Wanda, don’t tell her where I’m really going for the weekend. I’ll come up with some excuse: secret mission, courier run, whatever."</p><p>"I remain the soul of discretion."</p><p>"Thanks," Napoleon said. He offered a little wave as he left. "You’re a lifesaver."</p><p>"I try," Illya muttered. He couldn’t help but wonder if, in the course of that stay in the Bahamas, the ring would turn out to be a lifesaver as well. </p><p>________________</p><p>Ninety minutes later, a sandwich neatly wrapped in cellophane plopped on the workbench near Illya’s elbow. He didn’t jump, didn’t even blink. "Hello, Wanda," he said. </p><p>"I heard you haven’t had lunch yet and knowing you, you’ll probably work past dinner."</p><p>"It must be a slow day in the typing pool if the main topic of conversation is my nutrition. Nevertheless, I appreciate the thought." He reached for the sandwich. "Thank you."</p><p>Embarrassed, Wanda made a face. "Actually, it’s not an act of kindness at all. It’s a bribe."</p><p>"Oh?" Illya inquired innocently, even though he’d been expecting such a visit. Indeed, by his calculations, she was a half-hour late. Wanda found an empty stool and dragged it to a position next to his. She watched as he unwrapped the sandwich and began to eat.</p><p>"Are you and Napoleon working this weekend?"</p><p>"I have no plans, myself." Illya kept his tone level, careful not to appear coy. "Why do you ask?" </p><p>"Well, we had a date for Saturday night and he just broke it this morning. Something about a last minute assignment, only he didn’t say what it was." </p><p>"We do tend to operate on a ‘need to know’ basis around here."</p><p>"Yeah, sure. But even if I asked him about it, he could lie and I wouldn’t know. Napoleon’s good at lying." Illya didn’t bother to agree, nor point out that all Enforcement agents were. It was, after all, a requirement of the job.</p><p>"I just know he’s two-timing me." Wanda sighed and propped her chin up on the heel of her hand. Her gaze wandered idly across Illya’s work space and landed on a ring. Unlike the heavy one that Napoleon had appropriated earlier, this one was lighter and sleeker, more feminine. </p><p>"Hey — this is pretty." She began to reach out, then caught herself. "It won't blow up, will it?"</p><p>“No. It’s not a bomb.”</p><p>Encouraged by Illya’s implied permission, Wanda took the ring and balanced it between her fingertips. The light blue stone encased in white gold caught the glint of the overhead fluorescent lighting. "Does it do anything?" Any piece of jewelry found lying around Section VIII was bound to be less innocent than it appeared. </p><p>"As a matter of fact, it does. It’s a lie detector."</p><p>"No kidding!" Wanda laughed. "Is it hard to operate?"</p><p>"No. It’s fairly simple. You just press it against the subject’s skin and if he’s lying, the stone will change color."</p><p>Wanda’s eyes narrowed and she shot him a conspiratorial smile. They both knew what she was thinking. "Can I borrow it for the afternoon?"</p><p>"As long as you promise to bring it back by the end of the day."</p><p>"Oh, I will. No problem."</p><p>Illya could barely suppress a chuckle. After all, he’d promised not to tell. He hadn’t said anything about equipping her to find out the truth for herself. And since this ring was so different from the other, Napoleon might not even see it coming.</p><p>"Then, by all means," he said, "be my guest."</p>
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